After considering what’s been happening to the country since the optimistic days of EDSA 1, it has occurred to me that most of the country’s current problems can be traced to 3 major causes, all of which stem from the failure to follow up on the opportunities presented by EDSA 1:
The Marcosian network of corruption and influence was not dismantled – All administrations after Marcos owed its existence, one way or another, to these families. It would have been ideal to eradicate these feudal clans when Marcos was deposed, as it’s done in revolts in other nations. Instead of dying out, these clans got their patriarchs and members elected to the newly restored Senate and Congress. This filthy system has maintained its grip on power by refusing to set limits on terms of office and feeding and cultivating the culture of corruption that has destroyed the country. These clans prefer to keep this system of influence and corruption in place simply because it works very, very well for them. This same system protects the Marcos family from prosecution.
The poor quality of education – Among the masses, most of those who reached voting age after 1986 probably hardly know what Senators are for and the role of Congress in a democratic republic. Thus the masses elect actors, infamous traditional politicians and basketball players to the Senate and help retain the very same influential regional clans that prospered under Marcos in Congress. The election of the most unsuitable people to the Senate set the stage for the next debacle.
The failure of the Senate – Erap Estrada was clearly elected as president. This fact cannot be contested. One of the foundations of a democracy is the free selection of its leaders and this was demonstrated by the election of Erap. Whether it was a wise or foolish choice can be argued and can be blamed on the previous aspect, substandard education for the Filipino masses. However a poor choice of President is counterbalanced by the power of the Senate to impeach him or her if probable cause is presented. The revelation that some of the Senators during the Erap impeachment in fact received “balato” from Erap and that some of them were clearly out to derail the impeachment, starting at the Congressional level, already showed the direction of the impeachment proceedings. Ideally, the Senate (if its member were chosen wisely) should have opened the mysterious envelope and went ahead and impeached Erap. Then the unconstitutional removal of Erap, called EDSA 2, would not have occurred and lead to our current state of political instability. A properly conducted impeachment would have made GMA’s ascendance to the position fully legitimate and constitutional.
As it stands, unconstitutional means have become the increasingly popular method by which we change presidents, beginning with EDSA 2. GMA worsened the political crisis by running for the position and “winning” under a cloud of doubt and mistrust.
(EDSA 1’s removal of Marcos was not unconstitutional because he was already overstaying as president, backed up by an unlawful constitution that was custom-made to legitimize his clearly illegitimate presidency)
